THE TRIFECTA FOR GOOD CONTENT

THE TRIFECTA FOR GOOD CONTENT

By Mariah Rich

Mariah is a Vision Strategist and Design Director based in Los Angeles. Founder and designer of Btwn Wind & Water and Co-founder of Make Waves, an Intention and Communication workshop held across the US.

I BELIEVE THAT GOOD CREATIVE COMES FROM GOOD STRATEGY.

It seems like a logical concept but in most creative agencies and content production it seems the opposite has the favored opinion- that the art comes before the long-term plan. As a strategist and designer I have straddled the two worlds on a daily basis but I learned very early on in my career that in order to really make compelling and impactful content you have to be privy in both. You need to know what will draw your audience in and how to keep them there. But even deeper than understanding those pieces, we as creators have to learn the skill of telling a great story.

HOW DO WE BECOME BETTER STORYTELLERS?

As creative beings, I would assume we all believe ourselves to be pretty good storytellers. We understand the basic structure of what a story is and how to convey it. But when we think of brand development and longevity of creating a consistent story that is translated into many different mediums- well, that takes skill. This is our first priority, because facts tell but stories sell.

Storytelling is an ancient art that in our current culture has become the “it” subject. It is said that good storytelling compels people to change and shift perspective. It‘s important that we learn the art of the trade; how to change the way our audience feels, thinks, acts and behaves by the stories we create.

I am constantly scouring the landscape to see which brands; people or companies are telling their story well and different. I desire to know how they are doing it, why is it sticking and how I can do the same? But what makes them successful? They all have a strong focus on what their audiences want to hear and share.

THE FUTURE OF CONTENT CREATION.

This is where strategic storytelling becomes a critical factor for how brands evolve and content is created. A deep background in understanding the audience, what stories they might be already telling and how to speak with them, not at them is vital. We as creators and storytellers have to have the long-term goal in mind so that the content we create now, is relevant in the future.

If we (the creative people) don’t think about the story and strategy then the content we are building now will just fill a quick moment in the million of moments that are happening every second of every day in the creative industry. It’s like creating “flash content” that has no real meaning in the larger picture for the brand or story that we are trying to tell. There has to be the trifecta of elements- a great story, a strong strategy, and insightful and inspiring creative. They all have to come.//